


The Fox on The Dragon's Tale

by Ashra663



Category: Beauty and the Beast (TV 1987)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23558107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashra663/pseuds/Ashra663
Summary: I am Cordelia Rhodes,  the daughter of Vincent and Dianna, the sister to Jacob and the wife of Jermain.  I am the voice of people that have fallen between the cracks.   I am one of the last of a people born to protect man, or at least I thought I was, until now.Sequel to "The Lion and The Fox."
Relationships: Dianna Bennet, Vincent (Beauty and the Beast 1987) & Original Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Dreams of Grief and Blood

The Fox on The Dragon’s Tale

March 7th, 2018:  
Jermain, Mellissa and I stood by Cecelia’s grave at Montefiore Cemetery, I left six black roses, a bottle of Manishewitz, the album Faith by the Cure as well as Beethoven’s Fifth. I read Too Soon by Mary Yarnall:

This was a life  
That had hardly begun  
No time to find your place in the sun  
No time to do  
All you could have done  
But we loved you enough for a lifetime  
No time to enjoy  
The world and its wealth  
Down of the shelf  
No time to sing  
The song of yourself  
Though you had enough love for a lifetime  
Those who live long  
Endure sadness and tears  
But you’ll never suffer  
The sorrowing years  
No betrayal, no anger  
No hatred, no fear  
Just love, only love, in your lifetime

Cecelia Clark, or C.C. had been one of the best friends I have ever had, through her I had met Mellissa, my other Wyrd Sister and my Husband, Jermain. Her life had been snuffed from her too early by a mass shooting at Orpheus, a night club that we had frequented. It was a night club that catered to the goths, punks and artist of the city, a night club where no one blinked an eye to my appearance, until a man lost in his loneliness and fed on the echo chambers of hate in misery on the web decided to take her life and attempt to take my life with a hunting rifle. I ended his life and his misery, and I feel no regret for it, but I could no longer appear in the general public, for their knowledge of the blood I shed.  
My leg still felt a twinge of pain when the rain fell two years later. I still felt pain and anger that my friend was so easily snuffed out of life within minutes, a friend that saw me for what I was, and what I could be. 

She introduced me to alternative culture and the music and movies and fashion, and I had reintroduced her to classical music, books, and literature. 

She had been a budding archeologist, and she was going to explore the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. She was also the person that discovered the origin of what I am and people that may have been like me , well me and my father. We were sisters, her and I, and now she lay six feet in the cold darkness, her secrets and discoveries never to be discovered.

I pulled my black velvet cloak over my head to hide my features. I had a pointed face with high cheekbones and foxlike features, with a cleft lip and pointed canines. My eyes are a warm golden brown and I have a mane of thick red hair on my head. My hands had fine red fur and pointed claws that Mellissa often intricately painted for me. 

Mellissa Chen was both a tattoo and traditional artist, she now lived on the Lower East Side, under a tattoo shop with her girlfriend, Alice Nguyen. She had been all but disowned by her family who disapproved of her lifestyle. She had lived with me and my world for a while, but moved in with Alice a year later.

Mellissa was tall and pale, with beautiful dark eyes. She often wore Victorian or Lolita style dresses. Her dark hair had been dyed with a purple tint and her lip was pierced, she was also now covered in tattoos as well. I had two on my wrist one read In memory of C.C. On the other wrist read Cryptid.

My husband, Jermain, was African American, with a slim build and soft boyish features. His once neon-colored Mohawk had been replaced by long braids that we pulled back in a ponytail. Like me, he wore black trousers and a black tee-shirt of some sort, sometimes with a band logo, sometimes plain. 

I hugged Mell goodbye and Jermain and I headed back towards his family’s house. It was a modest house in Brooklyn. He knew how to stand in front of me just so to hide me from the cameras on the subway, he always put me toward the back of the cars and stood over me, his height towering over me.

We got off under Central Park and found our way toward the main enterance. There was a police officer standing sentry near the entrance.

“Good evening, officer,” I said.

“Evening Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes,” said the officer with a tip of his hat. “Ya know, Mrs. Rhodes…”

“Please call me Cordelia or Cordy.”

“A’right Cordy, it’s going to be hard to keep your identity, and your district secret if you keep traipsing out at night without telling someone where you’re going.”

“I see you’ve spoken to my father again,” I said.

“No, direct orders from City Council.”

“Well, Councilmen Maxwell is retiring this year, after that then, or will we once again be left to fend for ourselves?”

“Cordy, I just take orders, and I was ordered to keep the overly curious from exploring this pipe, there’s structural damage and bad drainage, wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt,” the officer said this with a wink.  
Jermain nodded at the officer and we went inside to the main entrance, I opened an old brick panel to view a numerical keypad, I punched in the combination of numbers and heard a friendly chirp as a circular panel pulled away.  
We walked down the halls for about three miles until we came to the spiral staircase that led to the underground. There are hundreds of miles worth of tunnels under New York City, most of them forgotten, some crumbled during earthquakes and the attacks. Under the tunnels, there are caverns and mazes that run even deeper. We call it the world underneath, it is a secret place, well mostly secret, a few helpers in the city council are aware of us, but they protect us from harm, at least until the next election. At that point, we’ll either go on rebuilding or leave. 

One of our helpers Reverend Leena Greene owns a plot of land in The Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, if we had to leave our home, due to flooding, disaster or simply being squeezed out from the ever-raising cost of living, we had a place to go. Jermain and I had our honeymoon there, in a small cabin in the middle of a forest, listening to the sounds the night animals made, unable to sleep from the eerie silence. It was a major change, granted, but not an unwelcome one.  
Jermain and I made it to the main tunnel, I saw my mother carrying my nephew. He was nearly two now and had a tuft of dark hair and warm gray eyes. He smiled when he saw me and Jermain. 

“How’s my little buddy doing?” said Jermain.

My nephew, who had been named Vincent Alan Chandler II, babbled “uncie” excitedly and held his chubby arms out. Jermain held the child and proceeded to toss him around in a playful manner until my brother came by to collect him.

My brother, Jacob, was tall and broad with piercing blue eyes and sandy hair that was cut high and tight. He had the high forehead and cheekbones but a soft smile. He worked as an EMT, and his wife Kittie worked as a Nurse for St. Vincent’s hospital, they were both extremely busy and would drop him off at grandma and grampa’s to be watched. 

“He’s really getting big,” said Jermain.

“Children will do that,” said Jacob. 

“Good to see you,” said my mother. Her hair was now a pale copper white with age and she had eyes the color of the sea. We had the same fair complexion and if I had been born “normal”, I would have looked very much like her. 

We gave her a hug.

“So, what have you two been up to?” she asked.

I gave a somber look. “It’s the second year since the shooting, we all were up to pay our respects.”

I could see a tear form in Jermain’s eye and he turned away.

“It’s always hard to lose a friend, sad,” my mother looked skyward. “That’s why I came down here in the end, there were just so many losses.”

“That, and you fell in love with my father.”

She smiled at me, “That too, I still love him, the moody old lion.”

“Speaking of which, do you know where he is?” I asked.

“He’s in our chambers, he’s in one of his moods again, I’d leave him alone for a bit.”

“I know his moods more than anyone,” I said.

“Your moods are more predictable, they only come about once a month,” said Jermain.

I stared daggers into him. 

“With that, I think I’ll go,” said Jermain.

I headed toward my parent’s chambers. It was stone and had a window shaped like half a sun when the tunnel lights were on it glowed a warm amber. In the corner, there was a statue of Justice and a computer. In the middle of the room was a table where my father sat and was writing in a large book.

My father’s hair was long and white and pulled up halfway, his piercing blue eyes focused on his work. His face had leonine features, a cleft lip, and sharp canines, as I had, though his face had higher cheekbones and was less pointed. Although he lost some of the height of his youth, he was still formidably tall and broad, features my brother Jacob had inherited. I myself was quite the opposite, barely taller than five feet, though I had a muscular build. His hands also had claws and were covered with grizzled gray hair, while though my hands had more hair than an average woman’s, it was fine and almost silken in comparison. 

“Father,” I said.

He looked up at me, “Leave me, Cordelia, I wish to be alone with my own thoughts.”

“I can feel your grief, Dad, I just wanted you to know you’re not alone in this, that I’m here if you need me,” I sighed.

“I feel your grief as well, and the senseless act that led to that grief, and then,” his feline features crumpled, “I felt my own grief at the evil that took from me too, it’s a sadness that I did not want either of my children to know.”

My father was referring to his first love Catherine, Jacob's mother, she had been murdered thirty years ago. 

Tears welled up in my eyes, “Dad, does the pain ever go away?” 

“It comes and goes, years will go by when you think everything is healed, and then a voice, a song, a smell will bring all the memories back and all the pain.”

“We must remember so that nothing fades into the abyss,” I said. “Everything has a purpose, and I would not be here, as I am now, if the past did not happen.” 

“It’s cause of you and Jacob that I have continued to endure,” he heaved, “and your mother has been by my side all these years.”

“Then let her comfort you father,” I said. “With me, you’re only preaching to the choir, I am too much of your own reflection, let mom be by your side, don’t shut her out, she can heal you better than any small mirror could.”

He nodded, as I left to get my mother.

“I calmed him down enough, he fed off my grief and needs solace, perhaps I should shield myself better next time.”  
“I don’t want you to block us out,” said my mother.  
“Not blocking you out, just not dragging you down with me, into my pain. One empath is enough to deal with.”  
My mom sighed and kissed my forehead. “Thank you, sometimes you’re the only one that can get through to him.”  
“I have my purposes,” I quipped. “I’m going to find solace myself.” I took Jermain’s hand and we went to our chamber. I found solace in him, his warmth and his kisses, we made love, and I fell into a deep sleep wrapped in his arms.  
I awoke to the hot sun beating down on me, the sky was a brilliant azure. Cacti were growing out of tan dusty earth. There were mountains in the background and distant mirages in the background. I pulled the hood of the cloak, red now, over my head to block out the sun and shield my eyes.  
I walked toward the mountains and saw a large building. I went into the large building and the acrid smell of death surrounded me. In the front lobby, I saw an office chair and I carefully turned it around to face me. In the chair was a corps, it’s throat slashed and the eyes were completely ripped from the sockets leaving two black pits.  
I jumped back away from the chair and saw the walls were covered in a red ichor and I heard a roar. Furious energy leapt for me knocking me to the ground, two black soulless eyes looked at me in a background of white, I could feel it’s rage, fear and confusion surround me, and I roared back in anguish.  
“Cordelia!” I heard Jermain scream.  
I opened my eyes and his arms were wrapped tightly around me, holding my hands closed. His arm was bleeding.  
“I hurt you!”  
“It’s not deep, but you were thrashing around and howling like you were having a night terror.”  
I was drenched in sweat and I looked around the room. I was back in my chamber with a modest bed and desk. My mechanical typewriter in the corner beside his microscope and textbooks. A dresser and a few band posters covering the wall.  
“Love, I’m sorry,” I said.  
“I’ll be fine, I just want to know if you’re ok.”  
“I don’t know, I had a nightmare, it was so vivid, rage, fear, bright light and heat, and so much death and blood.”  
He held me and rocked me in his arms.  
“It felt like someone was trying to reach through me to.. to I don’t know, just such rage. This happened to me a few years ago, but not to this extent.”  
“Your grandmother?” He asked.  
I nodded. “My grandmother simply felt wild, as though she was running through the pines on a cold night and enjoying the hunt. I never felt rage this strong, and hot sun and dust, a desert?”  
“This is New York City, there are not desert biomes here for thousands of miles.”  
“That doesn’t mean that this person, this rage isn’t in a desert and trying to breakthrough.”  
“Shh, think of one thing here that you can see, one thing you can touch. Take a deep breath, in through your nose,” Jermain breathed in deeply, “and out through your mouth.”  
I focused on my breath and could feel my heart rate slowing down, and I could see that this was our chamber and I could hear the distant clanging in the pipes and the trains and I felt safe again. I formed a shield around my thoughts, and the vision of hot sun was frozen out my thoughts of ice.


	2. Politics

The next morning, we went to the main hall and the council meeting. Uncle Mouse, an odd man that worked on gadgets, Piper a young lady with cropped hair and a terrier that worked on pest control, Pasqual, a man in his seventies that worked on the pipes messenger system, Rachel a retired gourmet chef that became the new cook for the world below. Kipper a man in his early forties, was my brothers’ best friend and my father’s right-hand man. My brother Jacob, his wife Kittie, and my parents were in the center, along with the Reverend Leena Greene. 

Reverend Greene was Kitties’ mother and a former resident of the tunnels. She now owned a large swath of land in Tennessee and used it for anything from drug rehab to summer camp. It was also the backup for us, in case the tunnels became uninhabitable.

“I’m glad y’all showed up,” said Reverend Greene warmly. Her blond hair was in a stiff updo and her face was heavily made up, she wore a nice conservative suit. 

“Sorry I’m late, I slept poorly, it won’t happen again.” Jermain held my hand.

“Reverend Greene was going over moving plans to the ministry,” said my mother.  
“We were going over plans of staying as long as we may here,” said my father. “Not all of us are able to leave the city, some of us like Pasqual was raised here and leaving would be too much change.”

“You’d still have peace and safety,” said the Reverend. “You’d get to see the green trees and be out in the fresh air, the cost of living is a lot easier, you wouldn’t have to scrounge as much. I’m only thinking of my friends here.”

“I know mom,” said Kittie, “but not all of us want to leave. I’m a nurse and Jacob is an EMT going to school to be a doctor eventually. We can’t just up an leave, there’s little Vincent to think about and we have another one on the way.” 

My father smiled, “Congratulations, Jacob and Kittie.”

“You guys don’t waste time, do you?” I yawned. I hugged Jacob. “You’re just working on an army of minions.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to raise your children, my grandchildren, out of the city?” said the Reverend.

“I have had a rich life in this city, even if it was limited,” said my father. 

I raised my hand. 

“Yes, Cordelia?” asked my mom.

“I can see both sides, this city is great and busy and alive, but it’s also very expensive and not the easiest place to live.”

“Also, the sea levels have been rising,” said Jermain. “As an environmental scientist, the underground is going to be more prone to flooding as the polar ice caps melt, going to higher ground isn’t a bad idea.”

“What I’m thinking, love, is that the Reverend can send up shuttles, perhaps twice a year, and those who have become tired of the City can go to the Ministry and the ones that want to stay can. We can start a go fund me and raise gas fair.”

“That’s a great idea Cordy!” said my mother. 

“And in the case of an emergency, we can all come down for a while, and shuttle back when it’s over.”

Everyone nodded.

“I may go to the Ministry myself,” I said.

“Then who would protect us?” asked Pasqual.

“I have secured you police protection above, my brother is former military and the city now is safer than ever before,” I said

“But you’re our protectress,” said Piper.

“Is that my job description? Is that permanent?” I growled, my head started to throb.

“What my wife is saying, “said Jermain, “is that we can help this world no matter where that world is. I can test for clean water and good soil; help plot out areas where we can build.”

“So now you’re my voice?” I glared at him. “I can’t have a voice of my own now.”

“Cordelia!” My father snapped. “You must not let your anger dictate your words.” He turned toward the council. “You all must be a little more understanding. I have been protecting you all for the greater part of fifty years. Cordelia protects in her own way, with her words and with her deals. The world below is safer now than it has ever been.”

“Until the next election, which is this year,” said Kipper.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” said my mother. “We’re dealing with a potential dictatorship at a national level, anything we can do here to keep the democracy in the city, and below, is needed, including elections. I don’t know what Joe has planned but we’ll figure something out.”

“I’ll go to him tonight,” I said. “I have a bad headache and need to rest; I can’t go out until nightfall anyway.”

My mother came to me and smoothed my hair back. “You need to learn how to dampen all the noise, all the feelings from everyone.”

“I know, I’m an empath, it’s not always so easy. Sorry, I’m a bit on edge, I just need some sleep.”

“We’re here if you need us,” said my father.

“Thank you,” I said before heading back to my chambers. I took a long pull of wine before my nerves settled.

“Are you sure that’s healthy?” asked Jermain.

“My body metabolizes alcohol normally.”

He took the bottle from me. “I know, that’s what I’m worried about.” He sat beside me. “C.C.’s mom was an alcoholic. She was high functioning, and a happy drunk but still an alcoholic, it’s not healthy to depend on it so much. “

I remembered Mrs. Clark, a middle-aged woman that beamed about the punk clubs of the 80s and smelled of red wine. After C.C. died, she joined A.A. and got a small house in Rode Island, I recently saw her Facebook she seemed happy and had two greyhounds, I barely recognized her.

I fell into a deep, cold and dreamless sleep. 

It was a chilly spring night in the city when I found my way to councilmen Joe Maxwell’s house. It was a modest brick row house in Chelsea. I climbed the fence to the backyard narrowly avoiding falling into a barbeque pit and bumping into a basketball pole. 

“You still don’t have the stealthy creature of the night down, do you kiddo?” He chuckled.

“It’s easier to tell people I’m going to a convention or auditioning for CATs, or at least it was before things happened.” 

Two years ago, there was a shooting at a club called Orpheus. It was a Goth club that C.C., Jermain and Mellissa invited me to. When they first met me, they just saw me as a girl in a costume going to a party of sorts. In my rage I had killed the shooter, and INCEL that had stalked C.C. and me for a few months prior. 

The press and law enforcement and social media had a quiet hunt for me, even though most of the city considered me a hero for taking out the shooter. I had felt Mr. Maxwell’s hunt was more of a need to have questions answered from events that happened before I was born. I had convinced my father to tell him the truth in exchange for clemency. Not only did Maxwell grant clemency, he granted protection. Places, where drug addicts and vagrants would congregate near the tunnels, were now patrolled by police, who also shooed away urban explorers that would be attracted to entrances to the world below. He and my older brother concocted the lie that the girl that killed the shooter died of an overdose. In return, I promised to stay out of the public eye as much as possible. 

I was fond of the old man, his white hair covered by a Yankees baseball cap and dressed in a flannel shirt. 

“Hey, I’m just looking out for you,” he said. “What brings you here?”

“I’m here to discuss your plans for the underground district, after the election.” 

“I was going to bring that up with you, when is the next council meeting?”

“There was one this morning, concerning leaving for the Ministry, I can call another one,” I said.

“You know it might be easier for you guys to locate to the mountains, the cost of living here isn’t going any lower, and there’s 300 people leaving the city on a daily basis. I’m just the city council, there’s only so much I can do.”

“I understand, but some of my people are loathed to leave,” I said

“Understandable, older folks don’t care much for change, look, kiddo, I’ll talk to the next councilmen and tell them.. I dunno, tell them something believable.”

I shrugged. 

“I’m just glad to be retiring this year, might get a nice place in Florida myself, get the socks with sandals and play some shuffleboard.” 

I smiled. “How is Sadie doing?” 

“She’s currently in New Mexico, she’s a journalist investigating ICE and their treatment of children, kids locked away from their families. This is the United States and it’s a damn shame.”

“New Mexico?”

“Yeah, Albuquerque.”

“She may be in danger. I had a dream about a desert, there was being of such anger that wanted to last out towards everything.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know what’s up with you people and dreams about danger, perhaps you and your mom need to get back to the Ouija board.” `

“Look, I’m just telling you about a dream I had, it was so strong, it was trying to tell me something?”

“And what makes you think it was my daughter? Didn’t your brother serve in Iraq?”

“Afghanistan and that would have been mountains and cold. I would have known if it was him, this was just so random, forgive me.”

“It’s ok, look, I’ll call her to see how she is, you have me worried now.”

“Thank you.”

Maxwell got out his smartphone and dialed, it rang several times and then a voice picked up, it had a thick southern twang.

“Who is this?”

“Joe Maxwell, Sadie’s father is she there to speak to?”

“Afraid you must have the wrong number.”

“My daughter wouldn’t change her number and not tell me!”

There was laughter on the other line. “Well tell your libtard daughter not to be poking around our business.” The phone went silent.

“You got to do something to help her, please!” 

“I’ll call another meeting ASAP,” I said. “I owe that to you and your daughter.”


	3. Omens in Spring

Joe Maxwell traveled with me to Tower Games. David, the owner, had been a helper of the world below since he was a teenager. It was a shop that sold games in all manner, ranging from Chess to Dungeons and Dragons. It was after the store hours so I knocked on the door outside. A middle aged man with long blond hair opened the door. 

“Cordelia, Mr. Maxwell, what brings you here?” He grumbled.

“Your internet,” I said.

“You guys need to get your own network,” said David. “It’s not like you're hiding away in secret anymore.”

“Ah, Pascal still loves his code, also the signal isn’t the most stable when you get underground.” 

Pascal was a dear friend of my father, he helped invent a Morse code that could be used on the pipes to send messages or alert people to danger. He was terrified that his system would be made obsolete, as well as smartphones using satellite to expose our location. It was a constant area of contention with the dwellers.

“It’s only going to be a minute,” I said.

“I have a Samsung right here, gets full internet, kiddo,” said Joe, slightly annoyed.

“There’s an intranet,” said David, “ I created a website for helpers only accessible through TOR.”

“So the dark web,” said Joe.

“More the deep web,” corrected David, “there’s nothing nefarious, mainly addresses where to ship food, equipment. It mainly runs inventory :between New York and the Ministry in Tennessee.”

“So why are we going on an inventory website?” asked Joe.

“Sadie has a username and ID there, perhaps she logged in and left some sort of trace,” I said.

Joe nodded. 

David then entered a series of code into TOR and navigated through a few websites and we ended up on the main page. There were a few post by Sunnybrook Farms upstate with a shipment of produce. I checked the message boards for Sadie and found that she was actually active in a chat.

:Sadie: I typed.

After a few minutes I got the reply:

: Heya Cordy, everything ok?:

: Yes, we were worried, your dad tried to call you just now.:

: Oh, don’t get me started, some asshole stole my phone, I thought I had it deactivated.:

I could hear Joe sigh audibly, he took the keyboard from me.

: I was so worried about you, this is Dad:

: Well I would have called, but Eric was busy with the investigation and had the laptop, he just got in.:

: Wait, who’s Eric?:

: He’s very special, I met him in Silicon Valley while working on a tech piece. You’ll have to meet him when we get back, hey you can make us your famous lasagna.:

: You never even mentioned him and you’re bringing him back to New York for pasta?:

: He has tickets for Billy Joel. :) :

: I’m just glad you’re safe hon, call me with your new number when you get it.:

: I will daddy, I hate to cut this short but I have to be at a press conference soon, I love you, take care.:

I could feel the wave of tension leave the room. 

“It’s only a misunderstanding, Sadie’s fine, thank God.” 

I frowned. “I don’t know, something still feels off.”

“Cordelia, sometimes dreams are just dreams.”

“I have a talent that warns me of danger,” I sighed. “Perhaps it’s not your daughter but in another direction.”

“You’ve been stressed, your district council is making demands and they’re worried what will happen once I retire. But look at it this way, you have backup in case something goes wrong.”

“Backup that many of our people don’t agree to, to leave states and travel hundreds of miles to a home that they don’t know. This city has been part of them for so long.”

“I understand, this city has been part of me too, but it’s time that I retire and move on, to, I dunno, someplace quiet, many of the people in the tunnels are older and a change of pace will be good for them too.”

“I just wish I could convince them.”

“It’s not only you down there, but you also have your family down there, eventually it’ll work itself out, thank you for giving me peace of mind. But get some rest Kiddo, your running yourself ragged. You should probably spend some more time for yourself, you know you and your Jermain.”

“All right, but could you still come down later, just to appease them, it would at least put them at ease for a bit.”

“Ok, talk to your folks and leave me a message by carrier pigeon when you want to meet up.” 

“I’ll leave you a message by Email, carrier pigeon, really?” I shook my head as I left for home. 

I slept in Jermain’s arms that night. I woke up to a bright blue sky and the sun searing on a bed of cracked clay. A vulture landed near me and squawked. I brushed the buzzard away and saw a little girl standing over me. She had long dark hair and large brown eyes, her face was cat-like and her hands were clawed. She spoke to me in a language I could not understand and take my hand. I was led to a building, I went inside and it was cold and white, in the middle of the room was a cage. In the cage was a beautiful woman with platinum hair and the same eyes as the girls, only they were hardened to a glittering black.

“You cannot save me, sister, turn back.”

“Who are you? What am I doing here?” I asked.

The woman in the cage roared and screamed the same time a, a sound that made my blood run cold and I woke up in a cold sweat.

Jermain was snoring beside me, unlike last night he was unmarred and sleeping peacefully. I gently moved his arm and got up. I grabbed my cloak and walked to the park exit. As long as I was careful I could still walk around the park at night, especially in early spring when there was still a chill in the air. 

As I came to the main entrance, a large pipe leading to the tunnels, I saw Jacob at the door. 

“I’m glad someone’s awake,” he said. He had been pacing by the tracks in the dust.

“I had another dream, I was going to take a walk to clear my thoughts,” I said.

“I had a dream too, sis. It was my mother, she was by a cage in a lab and there was this little girl, she was like you and father.”

“I had a similar dream; did you see a woman?”

“Other than my mother, no. “

“She was very beautiful, but very cold and warned me away, and she was inside the cage.”

“In my dream, the girl was in the cage, and there was blood covering the walls and I saw Joe’s daughter, she, to put it light, she was mangled.”

“I think we should go to mother and father with this, Sadie may be in danger, she’s working in Albuquerque New Mexico, someone had stolen her phone and threatened me when Joe called her. I chatted with her on the helper’s web, she’s fine, but that doesn’t mean she’s not hunted.” 

“I still don’t understand why we’re being called out there, I mean I have a wife and kids I need to care for, and it’s not like the St. Vincent’s gives out vacation time easily,” Jacob said.

“It’s going to be difficult for me to travel, to say the least. I don’t think that area of the nation is too accepting toward theater students and goth kids,” I smiled. “Shall we, dear brother?”

We walked down toward my parent’s chamber. My father was still awake writing in his journal and my mother was at her computer typing in hers.

“Children, I’m glad you came, I was going to leave a message on the pipes come morning,” said my father.

“A message about what?” asked Jacob.

“I had a dream,” said my father, “that Sadie was in danger.”

“Did it involve a desert and blood?” I asked.

“Not quite, darkness and a voice calling out, it was in such pain,” he frowned.

“Welcome to my world, father,” I said.

“Who do you think you inherited the gift from?” snapped my mother. “Show some respect.”

“Forgive me, just lack of sleep has us all a bit cranky,” I said.

“It’s alright dear,” said my father. “Jacob,” my father looked hesitant, “I hate to ask this of you, but can you protect Sadie? Make sure she returns home safely, I am loath to ask, but you were a soldier. I would make sure Kittie and your children are well cared for.” 

“I can always tell work it’s a family emergency,” he said.

“I’m going with you!” I said.

“I understand your need to help, but it’s not safe for you to travel, it’s thousands of miles and what if someone were to see you, not everyone is as open minded or understanding as to the city, many would bring you harm,” said my father.

“Then that’s a risk I’ll take, I can hide, but it’s my gift, the gift that I inherited by blood, that is calling me toward this, it’s not something I can ignore.”

“Last time your gift lead to the dead, bones, and memories in a swamp, I’m grateful, but it may not be as urgent as you believe it is.” 

“This gift lead me to the truth about your mother!” My father shrank back. “My grandmother,” I composed myself. “It leads me to paths of importance; we now know the truth about who we are.”

“You’ve been showing me that truth since your birth, I only ask that you be careful, let your brother protect you and not let your pride lead you to battles you cannot win.”

“I will,” I hugged him.

“I’m going as well, “said my mom. 

“Diana?” asked my father.

“I had a dream too, about the girl, if anyone is going to find her, I, I have a shot,” she said. 

My mother was one of the best investigative detectives in New York City before she came below.

“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” 

I looked toward the doorway and Jermain was standing there, his arms folded.

“Dear, this is not a safe mission, I need you to stay here and be safe,” I said.

“And let my wife put herself in danger.”

“I have a former soldier and police officer going with me, love, you are a biologist.”

“I can be emotional support, and besides, if I wanted boring safety and security, I wouldn’t have married you.”

“Very well,” I said.

“I’ll rent a van,” said Jacob. “We’ll head out at 0700, father, you can call the council and tell them where we went to, I’ll get Kittie and tell her and little Vincent to come tomorrow afternoon, she can help run things.”

“The council will not be happy, but I hope they understand,” said my father.

“Well, love,” I said to Jermain, “let us get some rest, leave it to my brother to plan everything to start at the crack of dawn.”


	4. The Yellow Brick Road

It was early morning and the spring mist still clung to the air. I , Jermain, and my mother waited for Jacob to drive up with the car. Melisa stopped by on her way home from Club Attica, a goth club closer to Brooklyn. She was dressed in gothic Lolita dress complete with a small umbrella to keep out the drizzle.

“I wanted to see you before you left for out west,” she said. “Promise me you’ll be careful, it’s not the same as here.”

“Here hasn’t been too safe either, “said Jermain. 

“It’s still safer here to hide among the many than the few,” said Mel.

“Tell that to the NYPD,” said Jermain.

“You mean the police that have been helping monitor the tunnel entrances?” I asked.

“Only until Joe’s term is over, then everyone down there might be free game.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” said my mom, she was in regular topsider clothes, jeans and an oversized sweater. She had also packed some summer clothes for the journey out west.

“It may be in our best interest to move to the mountains before that happens, but for right now, let us tackle the journey ahead,” I said.

A white range rover pulled close and Jacob texted Mel for us all to meet him, I hugged Mellisa goodbye and went up the hill to meet my brother.

“I thought this would work better for going over the Rockies and the desert terrain,” said Jacob.

“It’s nice,” said my mom, throwing the luggage into the trunk. She sat shotgun and I curled into the backseat, I pulled my hood up over my head and rested on Jermain’s shoulder.

“It’ll take us three days to get to Albuquerque from New York if we go at an even pace. I checked in with Sadie and let her know we’re coming, she really didn’t agree but I got Joe to talk her into it,” said my brother.

“Free Military trained security,” I said. “Can’t deny that’s not an asset to the Maxwell’s, and it’s the least we could do for his mercy.”

“We wouldn’t need his mercy if you had kept hidden,” said my mom.

“And have thirty years of questions digging into my head every night? You don’t have this link that I have to deal with, I don’t choose who it links up to. I wish I could turn off my dreams and drown out voices calling for my help.”

“I may not have the same gift, but I can put myself in other people’s shoes, use my mind to feel how they feel. I felt terrible letting Joe think I was dead all those years but you were more important. I had to prioritize, that’s what being an adult is. You think running two thirds of the way across the country because someone you don’t even know might be dangerous is the best priority.... “

“I can always go back home, prepare to move our people out after the election, but what if Sadie really is in danger? Do you think it’s wise to leave our political allies in a dangerous situation after they put in work to make us safer?” I said.

“You know you remind me a lot of myself when I was young, just we need to do more legwork, if we just chase a hunch then we might only find a body.”

“And that’s what a three-day drive is for,” said my brother. “It’s a bit early to think right now, anyone up for music? “

“As much as I love classical, if you play it this early in the morning I’m just going to fall back to sleep, and I don’t think Jermain and my music is really anyone else’s cup of tea.”

Jermain reached into his backpack and fished out a small paperback. “I have just the thing for the trip.

“The man in black fled through the desert and the gunslinger followed.” He read Stephen King’s The Dark Tower as I curled up on his shoulder and slept.

We drove for a day, I was curled in a ball for most of it but I peaked out to see the vast stretch of I 70. We passed through the east giving way to the midwest. We stopped driving in a wooded sight off the highway. 

I felt all my bones pop as I stretched my limbs out. Jacob and Jermain went to building a tent and my mother got a little gas stove ready for dinner that night. We made our meal and woke up early and set for another day of driving.

I slept next to my husband, the ground was uneven and I felt rocks in my back. It was a light fitful sleep but at least it was free of dreams. Jacob woke us up at the first light of dawn and we took off again towards the West.

The forest eventually turned into plains, dotted by windmills and dusty grass that grew. Jermain read from the Dark Tower, but sometimes we would take a break for music. We listened to the classical I grew up on as well as techo and Goth rock, the scenery blended together.

We stopped at a truck stop to resupply and I curled in the back seat, covering my face with my cloak. Jermain stepped outside and a large man and my mom left to check on him. A man with a red baseball cap walked up to him.

“Ma’am is this man bothering you?” he asked.

“Just checking in on my son in law,” she said dryly.

Jacob showed up behind the man, my brother towered over him. “That’s not a problem is it?” he asked.

“No, no sir, just checking to see if all of you were fine,” he said, a fake smile on his face. I could feel the man’s disgust and hatred thinly veiled. I wanted to break out of the car and claw his eyes from his face, but I clenched my hands in, drawing blood from my own palms.

Jermain opened the car and sat beside me, he saw that my hands were bleeding and Jacob went back in and got a first aid kit. 

“Honey, why did you hurt yourself?” he asked.

“It’s not important, I’m just glad your safe, that man did not have the best intentions for you.”

“It’s nothing new, I’ve dealt with ignorance most of my life.”

“If it weren’t for Jacob, I may have needed to step in.”

“I can take care of myself,” said Jermain. 

“You’d get yourself killed, pipsqueak,” said Jacob. “You may want to protect him, but we’re all outnumbered, and we’re not in New York anymore, technically we’re in Kansas.”

“And I sit here like the Cowardly Lion,” I pouted.

“This is a different area than the City. Even if you were to say you were a fury or some girl in a costume, they’d still string you up just for admitting that,” said Jermain, his shoulders dropping. “In the city as long as we avoided the police most people would leave us alone, but here, here it’s everyone. It’s a different world, a different country.” 

I held him close. “We have to speak out, this country may be fractured, but we can still speak out to mend it, the web is a world of it’s own and we have that to use.”

“Because no one disagrees on the internet,” snarked Jacob. He then dialed on the phone and I heard Kittie pick up.

“How are you guys?” she asked. I could hear my nephew babbling in background.

“Halfway to destination, everything is ok.”

“Cordelia, how are you holding up?”

“A bit sore, I’ve never sat for quite this long before, how is my father?”

“He’s worried and trying to hide it. He’s been writing a lot.”

“That’s not a good sign,” said my mother. “Has he said anything about danger?”

“Not to me,” said Kittie. “He said that you two were in charge now and that it’s out of his hands. He did say that he felt that there was another, another like you and he felt her pain.”

“He’s connected too,” I said. 

“Yeah, he told me to tell you to be careful, and that you were heading toward blind rage, and to not let it bind you.”

“Tell him we miss him,” I said holding Jermain’s hand.

“Tell him I love him,” said my mom.

“Tell him we’re going to make it through this in one piece come hell or high water,” said Jacob.

“Will do,” said Kittie. “Little Vin says hi.”

“Hi,” smiled Jacob. I could hear the toddler say “dada” on the other line.

The phone disconnected. 

“We’re off to see the wizard,” I sighed as I saw the road cut through flat plains as far as the eye could see.


End file.
